China has detained a Swedish national, who worked with human rights lawyers, on suspicion of endangering state security, a rights group said on Wednesday, describing the charges as “baseless”.

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Peter Dahlin (another news agency named him as Peter Beckenridge) was taken into custody on January 4 while on his way to Beijing’s international airport, the group said, amid a growing crackdown on rights lawyers and foreign groups working on legal reform.

Rights groups say the crackdown aims to rein in dissent, but the Chinese government denies this.

Dahlin, 35, is the co-founder of the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, which promotes human rights and rule of law in China by supporting public interest lawyers and academics, among others.

“China Action is dedicated to promoting human rights within the existing legal framework of the People’s Republic of China and has only ever advocated non-violent, informed reliance on Chinese law,” the group said.

“In spite of this, Peter has been arbitrarily detained on spurious accusations.”

His girlfriend, a Chinese national, was also missing, it added. Read More